ISLAMABAD (APP) Following the directives of federal Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the Wapda authorities have geared up the work on 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum (NJ) Hydroelectric Project to complete it in one year before the scheduled time. The Minister has directed the Wapda to take all necessary steps to complete it well before time so that the cheaper electricity can be generated for consumers. The Minister said the government was following change of energy mix policy and paying attention to exploit all sources of energy including hydel, solar, coal and wind etc to bridge gap between demand and supply through cheap electricity. He said the project would cost $2.16 billion and would generate 969 MW to national grid system. The minister said the government has already provided funds for the completion of the project, adding that it was being financed by Kuwait Fund, Saudi Fund, Islamic Development Bank and Abu Dhabi Funds. The minister said currently the ratio of thermal power generation is more than hydel in the national grid and the government has decided to enhance the share of hydel power and alternative energy generation as compared to thermal generation to provide cheap electricity to the consumers. He said that work on Kohala Hydel Power Project of 1,100 MW would also be started soon. Project Director Neelum Jhelum Hydel Power Project Syed Ali Raza informed that round-the-clock work is going on the project to compete it before scheduled time period as directed by the Minister. He said project was kicked off in 2008 and would be completed in October 2015 instead of it stipulated time of year 2016. He said 3400 acres land was required for the project, adding that 3200 acres land has already been acquired for the project. The remaining 200 acres would soon be acquired, he added. He said the project was being completed with the assistance of Chinese Company CGGC and CMEC consortium. He added that about 47 km long tunnels will be constructed and 6 km have been completed. The powerhouse will be constructed at Chatter Kalas, 22 km south of Muzaffarabad.